Limestone Lakes – My First Real Adventure

I really like the quote “My best vacation is your worst nightmare.” It’s a great quote because of how true it is! I imagine a lot of outdoorsy people have been in a conversation like this:

“What did you do this weekend?” “I went backpacking! It was incredible, we did a traverse for 48 km and 3800 meters of elevation on this beautiful ridge with no water. I couldn’t feel my legs afterwards, but it was such an amazing trip”

That kind of weekend activities make no sense to anyone hearing it but that’s because we can never actually describe what it felt like, no matter how much we try.

The endless scree slope where you slip half a step for every step you take ends with the most incredible view of everything around you. The hiking through the freezing rain ends with a field of flowers so vibrant you think you are dreaming. The cold shivering nights that end with the most incredible sunrises. Those things keep us adventuring through the nightmares because we have experienced the beauty that comes with tribulation and the unknown. Adventure is about discovering the unknown.

Defining adventure

I feel that the word adventure is a bit misused. It’s used to describe exciting activities like skydiving and bungee jumping but I think few people understand what true adventure is.

This summer I had a conversation about the concept of adventure with a friend of mine at camp after a hard day of sport climbing. This is a guy who had cycled from Argentina to Canada without a phone or any electronics. He completed the whole trip without knowing what to expect a lot of the time, had to ask for directions constantly, interact with the locals, going through places not a lot of foreigners go through.

This is what he had to say about adventure: Few people go on real adventures nowadays. A lot of trips nowadays you can have everything under control, itineraries set and directions, photos accessible with the touch of your phone. There’s not a lot that can surprise people sometimes. I think the unknown, uncomfortable, unfamiliar, unexpected are the necessary components of an adventure. Adventure compels us to be more than we think we are but we rather kill the unknown grey areas on the map and in our future with the unlimited information available to us. Without the unknown, we end up just completing defined tasks, like we always are.  

That conversation really brought clarity to why I love doing what I do. I thought of the backpacking trip that started this addiction to adventure, the trip where our enthusiasm and inexperience that took ourselves to our limits.

while exploring the lake on the second day, we came across a steep side trail that led up over a hill. We were exhausted so it was one of those fleeting moments where we could’ve kept going. Instead, something drew me to this and I decided to make the trek up. After a lot of heavy breathing, I cam across a forested area with nothing interesting in sight.

Disappointed at the wasted effort, I was about to turn around when the thinning trees on the left side caught my attention. Slowly making my way over, my eyes lit up slowly and I broke into a jog.

Standing on the edge of this cliff, what I saw I would remember for the rest of my life.

In front of me, the sky opened, revealing the ancient wall of jagged mountains, thick clouds slowly swirling, hiding and revealing features as it drifts. Following this impressive range, I swept my eyes upon a valley far into the horizon, rocks of lively colours, spurts of fresh green mixed with charred skeletons of old.

That moment I knew I would be chasing more adventures, I would sacrifice a lot to feel how I felt standing there. This was the special moment that resulted out of adventuring into the unknown. The ecstatic beauty, made precious by every moment of uncertainty and pain, released into indescribable joy.

The present and the future

The summer after that trip I dedicated all my free time to the outdoors. I ended up hiking and backpacking over 600 kilometres. In addition, I made the decision to hike the Pacific Crest Trail in this pursuit of adventure.

Before drafting this, I asked myself to explain why I wanted to hike the Pacific Crest Trail. Now, I realized adventure is what the pacific crest trail is all about; 6 months of it, as pure as it can be.

Hiking the Pacific Crest Trail is about giving up control and expectations and just walk. Knowing that there are thousands of opportunities that can ignite into special moments of pure euphoria. Every sunrise and sunset, every summit and every side trail, every interaction between people, all those little sparks of beauty and discovery are what I seek.

There will be plenty of nightmares to come but I embrace it with open arms because I have witnessed those special moments and no amount of sacrifice will stop me from seeking out those moments.